


The Umpteenth Customer

by Anatemnein



Category: Designing Women
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21962278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anatemnein/pseuds/Anatemnein
Summary: A young, newly graduated Anthony is working his job at the local grocery store on Christmas Eve when he meets a customer that makes a big impression on him.
Relationships: Anthony Bouvier/Julia Sugarbaker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	The Umpteenth Customer

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this on the spur of the moment. It's a one-shot I wrote in about 20 minutes for fun, a sort of Christmas gift to anyone who reads my stories.

_~~~~_

_Clank, clank, clank!_

Anthony sighed heavily as he set down the box of inventory he was currently unloading--on Christmas Eve of all days--and slowly began walking to the end of the aisle he was in and toward the next aisle, where the offending noise had come from. He was in a surly enough mood--the rush of last minute shoppers in the grocery store having nearly destroyed all his carefully constructed displays--and he drew in another, long, heavy breath as he prepared to face whichever moronic customer it was he'd heard knock things over. He set his eyebrows with a look of displeasure and rounded the corner, only to stop in his tracks at the sight of a small, dark haired woman, looking meekly up at him from her place halfway down the aisle. She was frozen in place, staring at him, one hand holding a can--which was being raised toward its former place--and the other resting on the cold tile floor, aiding her balance. 

"I'm sorry" she said meekly, looking at him shyly through her lashes. 

How much older she was than him Anthony couldn't say, but he knew at the very least that he had just graduated from high school--a hell hole he was glad to be free of--and that she was somewhere in the realm of college, although at what year and at what age he couldn't pinpoint. At this point, he couldn't honestly say that even mattered, as he looked down at her, her thick dark hair curling around her shoulders and her large, doe eyes looking shyly up at him. 

"Oh, naw--no, no, no worries" he fumbled, haphazardly trying to correct his thick southern accent and sound more suave than his eighteen years. Anthony hadn't had a lot of experience with the opposite sex--and yes, he was still counting that glimpse of his neighbor half-naked in her bathroom through the open blinds (her fault)--but he knew enough to know that his thick drawl and surly demeanor (and dark employees apron) would not impress a woman like this. 

"I'm so clumsy. Really, I should have bought all this last week, and not been here firing up the corporate sales count that forces you to work on Christmas Eve" she said quietly as he bent down to help her pick up her things. His ear immediately picked up on one commonality--they were both from the south, although her drawl was less pronounced, and much sexier. 

"That's, no, that's okay" he stuttered again, quickly flinging things onto the shelves. He brushed off his hands and helped her to her feet, his breath stopping short as she stood and gazed directly into his eyes. She was shorter than him, tiny in a way, but her large eyes were enough to knock Anthony off his feet completely. Dark, mysterious, sad orbs that gazed up at him through thick lashes, and full pouty lips that were pressed shyly together. 

"You--uh, you okay?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"Oh, oh my goodness yes, just clumsy, not injured" she said softly, smiling a crooked half-smile and averting her gaze as her cheeks blushed furiously. 

Anthony glanced down at the full basket she was holding and offered, "Ready to check out?"

"Sure" she said as gamely as possible. He could tell that she was nervous, and he tried not to let his ego get away from him as he noticed the shy, timid way she looked up at him, and the fluttery red of her cheeks each time she looked away. Anthony may have been no connoisseur of women, but he'd had a few peeks at Playboy magazines with his mates, and had picked up some tips about women from the articles in those pages. In truth, they interested him a lot more than the porn did. 

"Has it been a quiet night?" she asked softly as she took her place in front of the counter as Anthony stood behind it, slowly ringing up her items and trying hopelessly not to appear nervous or attracted. 

"Oh, oh yeah, I mean no, no not really, bunch of hooligans and last minute shoppers and such, ya know, knuckleheads" he said, trying to sound assertive and cool.

She glanced down in embarrassment and said, "Yeah, sorry again about that, I should've--"

"Oh no, no not you, you're fine! Well, not fine, I mean, you're okay, it's okay, but you look--I mean--" Anthony pressed his lips together and silently prayed a hole would open up and swallow him as he slowly continued scanning her items as he silently kicked himself. 

He was relieved to hear her chuckle nervously and say, "Well, thank you, I think" as she shook her head and flashed another cute, lopsided smile that revealed a subtle dimple in one of her cheeks.

"You got family here?" he asked, hoping to get a bit of conversation rolling.

"Oh yes. Well, Mama and her husband--my Daddy's dead--and my sister, Suzanne, and our brother Clayton, and a few other folk. You?"

Anthony paused awkwardly, trying to figure out a way to say that he honestly had almost no family--Dondi aside--but not make it sound absolutely pathetic. "Oh, just me and my grandmama. I call her Dondi. She's at home cooking up a storm because I couldn't get off work to help her."

"That's terrible" she replied softly, shaking her head sadly and sending dark ringlets everywhere. "Now I feel even worse about being the umpteenth customer of the day."

The sound of the register cut through their conversation and Anthony quickly read off the total to her as she dug through her bag, producing the exact change and handing it to him. The receipt spat out a few minutes later and Anthony handed it gently to her, smiling at her as he did so. He felt his insides do something they never had before. They fluttered, unexpectedly, shyly, but in a way that seemed as though it might one day be significant, maybe not the response to _her_ per say, but the feeling. Something he would know as he plowed further into adulthood. 

She took it with a small smile and was shoving it into her purse as he set her bags of groceries in front of her and said, "For what it's worth, you may have been my umpteenth customer, but you've also been my favorite, so thank you."

She looked up in surprise, studying him carefully before turning another, new shade of pink as she said softly, "Oh, um, thank you, I...it's been really nice talking to you too."

"I'm Anthony" he said confidently, extending a hand and smiling at her. 

"I'm Julia" she replied, looking at him steadily and placing a delicate hand in his. She felt something curious as she did so, some sort of electric feeling that she couldn't place. Her current relationship had begun the same way--with a handshake, at a party, not at a grocery store--but all she felt that day was how cold Nate--her boyfriend's--hand was, and nothing else. This feeling was completely new, although men, to her, were not. She slowly withdrew her hand and smiled again, saying softly, "Well, see you around, maybe? Here, at least."

"Oh yeah, yeah, no doubt" he said, eyeing her intently. 

She picked up her things and turned to go, stopping before she said, "Oh, and Merry Christmas, Anthony. I hope you and your grandmother have a good one."

"Thanks Julia, same to you and your folks" he said, flashing her a bright, charming smile as she turned to leave. She was almost to the door when she heard him call out to her.

"Drive safe!"

She stopped short, and turned. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, drive safe; it's icy out there" he said, rounding the counter and looking at her still, now from a few feet away, with that same curious yet interested gaze. 

"Oh, oh yes, well, you too" she replied, thinking in the back of her mind that Nate hadn't told her as much when she'd left the house to go to the grocery store. She was about to turn to leave when she stopped again and simply looked directly into his eyes, remembering that spark that had flood through her body a few moments ago. 

"Merry Christmas, Anthony" she said softly again, that curious feeling wandering around inside of her as she looked into his handsome face and dark, boyish eyes. 

"Merry Christmas, Julia" he replied quietly, his heart sinking sadly as, after another moment, she turned and walked off into the parking lot toward her car. Anthony bit his lip and sighed, silently cursing himself for not making more conversation, or at least inquiring enough to deduce if she was truly interested. He watched out of the window as she placed the bags in the trunk and then slowly drove off, the snow and ice glinting on the rear bumper as she did so. He shook his head angrily at himself and began wiping down the conveyor belt as a thought hit him suddenly, causing him to pause. 

_Maybe one day, again_ his mind offered, his brow furrowing. He had no clue why the thought had come, and sighed, slowly continuing his work as he silently prayed that the thought was right. That curious, brand new feeling still spun around his insides, and he was already setting his brain to work so he could memorize her beautiful hair and equally beautiful face with the soft, inviting smile. 

Maybe not now, but one day, he'd see her again. 


End file.
